Those intended for the cavalry are placed at the disposal of the officer commanding the regiment which they wish to enter.
Those whose names appear in the second list are not permitted to choose their corps, but are placed by the minister at war in such corps as may have vacancies in it, or where he may think proper.
The students who are selected to enter the staff corps, after competing successfully with the second lieutenants of the army, proceed as second lieutenants to the staff school at Paris. Those who fail pass into the army as privates, according to the terms of the engagement made on entering the school.
[THE CAVALRY SCHOOL AT SAUMUR.]
This school was established in 1826, and is considered[19] the most perfect and extensive institution of the kind in Europe,—perhaps the only one really deserving the title, the others being more properly mere schools of equitation.
It is under the control of the Minister of War, and was established for the purpose of perfecting the officers of the cavalry corps in all the branches of knowledge necessary to their efficiency, and especially in the principles of equitation,—and to diffuse through the corps a uniform system of instruction, by training up a body of instructors and classes of recruits intended for the cavalry service.
The instruction is entirely military, and is based upon the laws and regulations in force with regard to the mounted troops. It includes; 1st. The regulations for interior service; 2nd. The cavalry tactics; 3rd. The regulations for garrison service; 4th. The regulations for field service applied, as far as possible, on the ground, especially with regard to reconnaissances; 5th. A military and didactic course of equitation, comprising all the theoretical and practical knowledge required for the proper and useful employment of the horse, his breaking, application to the purposes of war, and various civil exercises; 6th. A course of hippology, having for its object practical instruction, by means of the model breeding-stud attached to the school, in the principles which should serve as rules in crossing breeds and in raising colts, to explain the phases of dentition, to point out the conformation of the colt which indicates that he will become a good and solid horse, the method to be pursued to bring the colt under subjection without resistance, and, finally, to familiarize the officers and pupils with all the knowledge indispensable to an officer charged with the purchase and care of remount horses. This course includes also a knowledge of horse-equipment, illustrated in the saddle factory connected with the school; 7th. Vaulting, fencing, and swimming. The non-commissioned officers are also instructed in the theory of administration and accountability. The course of instruction continues one year, commencing in the month of October. The pupils at the school are:—
1st. A division of lieutenants, (lieutenants instructeurs.)
2nd. A division of sub-lieutenants, (sous-lieutenants d’instruction.)